HIGH SIERRA ARTIST, TEACHER AND HORSEWOMAN

SWITCHBACK TRAILS ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADA:A HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL PACK STATIONSBY MARYE ROESERFor most of my adult life, my husband and I have been a part of the commercial pack station scene in the Sierra. We have lived it, loved it and the mountains, and the people who made this industry an integral part of the Sierra Nevada cultural history. For years I collected bits of the colorful story and have finally woven this compelling interest into a recount of that previously, mostly unwritten history. After much research, writing and editing, the book is finished and almost ready for publication. The brief histories here are excerpts from that writing. As soon as the book is available for purchase, the information for acquiring a copy will be posted here. Happy Trails!!! Marye

Marye Russell RoeserHigh Sierra Western Artist

The spectacular beauty of Jackson Meadow and Minnow Creek are captured in watercolor by Marye.

From the time she was a youngster, western artist Marye Roeser has treasured the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Her family spent summer vacations in Mammoth Lakes, when it was a little known summer resort and before it became a world-class ski area. The granite crags, azure high mountain lakes, and rushing creeks became an integral part of who she is.

Marye began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and had the good fortune of meeting a successful western artist when she was about 12. Her parents recognized her art interests and arranged oil painting lessons for the future artist with Western artist, Marjorie Reed. Marye learned to paint horses and mountains and then progressed into excellent high school art classes where she was introduced to all media.

While attending college at UCLA, she worked summers in Mammoth Lakes at a summer resort and guided horseback rides for guests at the local pack station. She spent her days off hiking backcountry trails and fishing the high lakes while learning as much about her beloved High Sierra as possible.

Marye graduated from UCLA as an art major and earned General Elementary and Special Secondary teaching credentials. Her art passion was painting the subjects she knew and loved, and there were several instructors who taught excellent drawing and perspective skills. “ I also benefited from the instruction in basic design, structure, colors, values and composition which underlie good paintings.”

It was in Mammoth Lakes that she met her future husband. Lou Roeser, an Arizona cowboy, had worked on cattle ranches in Northern Arizona while majoring in Animal Science at the University of Arizona. He also worked at a Montana dude ranch one summer and was exposed to horse pack trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. One summer, he decided to pack mules in Mammoth Lakes instead of continuing on to Oregon to work as a ranch cowboy. Marye and Lou were married that winter and chose to spend their lives in the eastern Sierra packing into the magnificent Sierra Nevada wilderness. They worked at McGee Creek Pack Station and Rainbow Pack Outfit before purchasing their own outfit.

Marye and her husband purchased the Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit in Mammoth Lakes, where they had met and operated it for 38 years. Marye learned the packing business intimately and saw a good portion of the surrounding wilderness from horseback. These are the images that she portrays in her representational watercolor paintings – the people, places, and culture of this portion of wild California.

“We’ve lived in this part of the west when it was still fairly primitive, experiencing and understanding a pioneer way of life. It was hard work but we all worked together. There was no electricity, I fed the packers and our family meals cooked on a wood stove, hauled water from the creek, washed diapers in a tub, and caught horses with a child in my arm. Our four children thrived, learned to ride as they learned to walk, and enjoyed our unique lifestyle as much as Lou and I.”

Marye paints at Purple Creek.

Marye’s art supplies were always close at hand, although it was difficult to work in oils with slow drying time, and mosquitoes sticking to wet paint. Instead, she drew in pencil, charcoal and pastels. Her camera accompanied her on the trail and at the pack station, recording all she observed. As their children came along, she resumed painting in watercolors that she grew to prefer over oils.

The Roesers also built and developed Sierra Meadows Ranch in Mammoth Lakes. The lodge, and horse facilities became a winter cross-country ski center, sleigh rides with dinners, snowmobile tours and in summer an equestrian center, with horse boarding, hay rides with dinner and horseback riding.

They also added, for equestrians, bi-annual spring and fall 100-mile horse drives to and from their pack station in the mountains and their winter pasture in the Owens Valley. Lou became a provider of livestock, wagons and cowboys for western movies and commercials filmed in the Eastern Sierra region. He scouted areas and made arrangements for the photographers and producers.

Lou and Marye purchased a ranch in Coleville north of Mammoth Lakes. Marye returned to teaching, and continued teaching general elementary subjects and art, from kindergarten through community college level for the next 20 years in Coleville. Her daughter Leslie was her student and became a professional artist also.

Marye painting in her ranch studio.

“Teaching helped me to become a better artist, and working with my high school and community college students made me analyze the techniques necessary to develop in order to become a skillful artist.” She studied with other successful artists to learn advanced watercolor methods, where she gained much inspiration and defined her style. Watercolor is quite adaptable and for years, Marye had painted on the dining room table and at night when other activities quieted down. “ I still often paint on the dining room table at night. Living at the ranch and the Ski Center in the winter, and at the pack station in the summer taught me to keep my supplies organized and easily transportable.”

After her youngest daughter finished college, Marye retired to help full time in their growing and expanding businesses and devote more time to her painting. “First, we had to clear out some space for a studio. My niche was formerly my son’s leather shop in the barn.” Marye now maintains her studio on the ranch where glorious scenery and western activities are just outside the door.

Her contemporary western subjects display the strong, clear light of high elevations that infuses her work. She paints transparent glazes to give her landscapes the glowing colors of high desert and alpine mountain vistas. “Sometimes, I apply many pale washes, one on top of another, to obtain the glowing color I visualize.” “ As I paint, I try to capture the iridescent shine on a horse’s coat, the long inquisitive ears of mules as they balance a heavy load, the sun gleaming on a cowboy hat or a quiet reflection on a mountain lake. I paint familiar subjects that I have experienced, and I hope my viewers are able to feel the magic of this part of the west, to understand the soul of the people and the unique culture that is alive and well here”.

The Roeser family has continued in the western traditions of the eastern Sierra. The Roesers’ son, Lee, and daughter-in-law, Jennifer Roeser, own and operate McGee Creek Pack Station and lease Sierra Meadows Ranch from the present owners. Lee is an accomplished saddle maker. Another daughter, Kerry and son-in-law, Mike Elam have worked with the family businesses, worked at McGee Creek and live on the ranch with their daughter, Kiera as does Lou and Marye’s daughter, Maryl. Daughter, Leslie and son-in-law Matt Engelhart operate cattle ranches in California and Oregon with their three young children. Leslie is a successful professional western pencil artist.

Living and working in the eastern Sierra for most of her adult life, has given Marye an intimate vision of the packing and livestock ranching traditions. Her paintings ring with authenticity as family, friends, associates, and livestock provide the models.A recent article about the art of Marye Roeser titled "Marye Roeser’s Passions" by Meta Cheryl White, appears in Scenic 395 Magazine Official Guide 2011/2012 distributed in the Eastern Sierra and online. Read the article online at www.scenic395.com on page 40.

USFS - Pack Mule Programwww.youtube.comThe US Forest Service in California is stepping up their program for using pack mules ...

Read about some of the area history in our Sierra Ramblings pages and look for an upcoming book by Marye on the history of Sierra commercial pack stations.NOW FEATURING FREE SHIPPING AND ONLINE ORDERING